Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb for accountability, credibility and transparency. Preference will be given to letters of 100 words or less.
- Read the story: Calls for reform as GP bulk billing falls short
Greg Clutton, Pelican Waters: It is my understanding that it costs the taxpayers several multiples more for a patient to go through outpatients at a hospital than what the government is paying GPs. Surely it would make sense to pay the GP something more realistic so they can cover their costs?
Kerry Oldfield: It is concerning that there are so few bulk-billing GPs on Sunshine Coast. Why are some GPs able to bulk bill while other practices cry ‘we can’t afford to bulk bill’ ? Is it poor practice management or greed causing this? Pensioners like myself find it difficult to find a bulk-billing GP. Also, emergency clinics (which are supposed to fill the gap between the emergency department at hospitals and GPs who of course bulk-bill) are understaffed drastically.
I recently had to attend one (due to a pacemaker concern). They had one GP on duty. I waited seven hours to get to see the GP! Disgraceful. What is the Queensland government doing by not working with the federal government to close the gap? Can we ever expect a coalition Queensland government to serve the needs of the people?
- Read the story: Police clarify rules on in-car touchscreens as concerns grow
Graham Lockey, Coolum Beach: Well done to the local Queensland Police Service officers for highlighting the dangers of ‘Tesla-style’ car screens. When my car was being serviced recently, the dealer’s loan car I had was a vehicle where most of the everyday functions were via the screen’s menus/sub menus. Getting to the climate control functions required access to a second level sub screen menu. I found that this was a really unsafe process, as distinct from the straightforward buttons/dials in my car.
If you choose to access these controls, then the GPS screen is replaced by the sub menu screen. That’s fine if you’re not in an urban space where turn-by-turn GPS is needed, but in town it’s just distractingly dangerous. Thankfully manufacturers like VW, Kia and others have recognised this flaw and are returning to tactile switches and controls, but we will be left with a group of cars that are cursed with these screen problems for years as the cars move through the second-hand market. If you’re shopping for a more modern car, please be very aware of this design problem for your, and your family’s, safety.
- Read the story: Camping and caravan park hits the market
Beverley Kelley, Caloundra: I thought this property would have been heritage listed?
- Read the story: Airport CEO to depart amid ongoing growth
Jenni Hesse, Pelican Waters: Would be nice if visitors seeing off or meeting travellers could do so without going through security as in Brisbane and most international airports. Travellers have to book in, then go through security while waiting to board or enjoy a drink, and then through security again before boarding.
Or do as Auckland is encouraging: drop off and pick up lanes outside the terminal which avoids huge gatherings in the terminal. I experienced this last month, met by my son in the pick up lane and dropped off by the shuttle. Five minute stops allowed to load or offload luggage.
- Read the story: Design revealed for billion-dollar rail upgrade
Bob Higgs, Little Mountain: Never in the history of railways has there been so many announcements made by so many politicians about such a short rail Beerburrum to Landsborough upgrade. I have become very fond of these announcements and will miss them if ever the upgrade is finished.
- Read the story: Group officially told to make way for car park
Ken Dyer, Landsborough: The forced closure of the Beerwah Co-operative in its current location clearly shows the abysmal state of planning for major infrastructure projects, not only in Queensland but in Australia more generally. The Wave project has already blown its budget, and has gone through several iterations that have reduced its scope. In fact, it has been so poorly planned, that the federal government has also pulled funding for this white elephant vanity project.
What were they thinking when the proposed car park was to be sited on the north side of the railway line when the majority of its patrons will come from the south side of the line? In addition, the north side road systems have been designed to service a small regional community and certainly not a horde of commuters, struggling to wend their way through an already crowded shopping centre with limited street access.
Queensland has a remarkably poor record of delivering megaprojects on time and on budget. Cross River rail is a prime example. It is the predictable outcome of a broken system. What we have seen in this project, The Wave, is entirely predictable. The project was announced without a credible business case. A Grattan Institute report found these types of major projects suffered an average of a 35 per cent cost overrun. The Beerwah to Caloundra section of the Wave is estimated to cost about $9 billion dollars. It is unlikely to cost less than $15 billion dollars, which would make the cost of the entire route somewhere between $25 and $30 billion dollars.
There has been no independent scrutiny of this project. It has been developed in a highly politicised appraisal system, and cost versus benefits have not been subjected to rigorous independent scrutiny. The recently cancelled Inland Rail Freight Line is a victim of that lack of independent scrutiny, poor planning and cost overruns.
The whole planning process of The Wave has been less than transparent. Despite multiple petitions, meetings and community agitation, the Beerwah community have been patted on the head, then studiously ignored, not only by TMR but by the government’s politicians. In addition, the government has treated the business case as discretionary, and as a result, the people of Beerwah and more broadly, those of the Sunshine Coast, have been left in the dark.
Where is the integrity, the transparency and the independent assessment of this white elephant project that will destroy environment, displace businesses and inconvenience residents? Sadly, we will never probably know, because the whole project has been highly politicised before proper appraisals have been carried out, and planning has been conducted largely in secret.
- Read the story: Push for clearer warnings after tragedies on popular peaks
Darren Edwards (Trail Hiking Australia founder): Signs matter, but the decision to attempt these mountains is usually made at home, not at the trailhead. By the time someone reads a warning sign, they’ve already driven there, geared up, and mentally committed. The problem often starts earlier, with how these routes are described online.
Calling something a ‘hike’ or a ‘walk’ creates a mental model. People arrive expecting a walking track experience and instead encounter exposed scrambling terrain with serious fall consequences. The word ‘scramble’ is more accurate, but it only solves part of the problem.
Good risk communication needs to describe capability requirements, not just hazards. People need to understand the type of movement required, the level of exposure, how quickly conditions can change, and what a fall means in that environment. That’s more than a warning sign. It’s an honest description of what the terrain demands.
The missing piece is self-assessment. People need a way to evaluate whether they genuinely have the movement skills, experience with exposed terrain, confidence at heights, and judgement to manage changing conditions. That kind of honest self-evaluation helps prevent people from discovering their limits in the wrong place.
Most serious incidents don’t result from a single reckless decision. They develop gradually through small assumptions compounding: underestimating terrain, pushing on in deteriorating conditions, overestimating ability, or not recognising the right moment to turn back. Better communication won’t eliminate all risk, but it can help people make clearer decisions before they commit.
Graham Lockey, Coolum Beach: The recent incidents at Mount Tibrogargan and Mount Beerwah are deeply concerning, and I think Chris Pires is right to focus on language and online content rather than signage alone.
- Read the story: Ashley Robinson: what a ‘joke’ government is
Gail Podberscek: I’ve just read Ashley Robinson’s budget piece how ‘hard done by’ baby boomers are. I’m a boomer, now well into my 70s. After 25 years, I’m looking to live away from the Sunshine Coast and its relentless entitlement. I can’t afford to live here.
I did some of those things you did, Ashley. I was proud for the opportunity to have careers across my lifetime – after choosing one of five options for girls leaving school in the ‘60s. Many others had a career raising families, supporting partners who worked hard to give them the best – who contribute elsewhere now in later life.
All I could feel after reading this is how much we all have, and how little we care that others of the same age, and the same opportunities, don’t. Worse, I’m shocked to see young people scared for their growing families in these greedy times.
I know what it’s like to have a successful business. I had one for nearly 20 years. My former husband and I purchased a cottage in 1971 when our combined income was $100-a-week. Later, we briefly had an investment property in partnership with our parents, sold at a moderate profit to buy my business with our share. I did Paul Keating’s ‘recession we needed to have’. I was ‘p’d’ off. It motivated me. I reinvented my business (which needed it) and kept going for another 10 years. I don’t remember saying ‘poor me’ and complaining – that took too much energy and focus.
Oftentimes, life takes us places we don’t expect. Now, I’m engaged with a group of amazing women all over 55 who are looking for homes. I’m disgusted we treat ‘housing’ as a wealth opportunity while ‘investors’ anticipate not only significant capital gain from sale of the property, but expect others – our precious young families and single elders – to pay the investment mortgage while they rent! Our entire housing method needs a reset.
Right now, many creative, compassionate inter-generational opportunities are being taken up. Could we be grateful for this as a legacy from our generation?
The rents expected now are obscene. That has to change. I strongly support the recent budget. I am appalled we have such ‘rabble’ as the ‘Opposition’ – a fractured ‘party’ only skilled at deflecting blame, which has spent one-and-a-half terms of federal government obstructing the parliament now led by Labor with a huge majority. Every single day they diminish unity in Australia, encouraged by the media on purpose. In clear sight of the voter. That’s no basis for bipartisan government. Is this really what we want? Just my view.
Mark Corrie, Burnside: Hi Ashley, while I don’t disagree with you that the federal government should do much more on the inter-generational divide, I must take issue with your assertion that there was even a rational discussion to be had with the Coalition, let alone One Nation. Both the Coalition and One Nation have zero policies to address what Jim Chalmers did apart from blaming our nation’s economic and social problems on immigration. Capital gains tax and negative gearing have gone hand-in-hand for over 20 years to create the disparity between wages and house prices. If you don’t trust either party, fair enough, but maybe listen to the respected and qualified economists.
Quite frankly, political discourse is headed down the British example where the two major political parties are jumping to the right. The Coalition and One Nation think appealing to our worst angels, grievance politics and blatant racism are in and of themselves a solution. Maybe it’s simply time to consider other candidates such as independents, the Greens or Teals?
Carla Clynick, Moffat Beach: When I read Ashley Robinson’s piece, the picture that came to my mind was of Ashley and Pauline as that couple of comedians! Thank heavens we finally have a government which is looking after our younger generation, one that is not providing tax relief to the already rich, one that is not providing welfare to the well off! This budget corrects errors made during the last 30 years. It is definitely time to fix that mess. Thank heavens we have a government that has the integrity to do that.
- Read the story: Dozens of boats removed from river under new rules
Ross Davies, African Queen: I believe our Aussie right to free access to our river systems for boating purposes has been violated! While I agree with many, that boats moored on the river should be maintained and ‘clean’ in terms of pollution potential, I disagree that moored boats are unsightly, and or, damaging the environment. Moored boats can be very interesting to look at and add to general viewing palette. Regarding the beaching of larger boats such as mine, there must be a degree of courtesy by the boat owner to the beach user, as well as safety considerations. Living on a coastal river on a temporary or permanent basis offers a fantastic alternative lifestyle.
- Read the story: Beachgoers get a glimpse of what seawall will look like
Trisha Jacobsen: Looking great and it will be super once functioning. Needs doing little-by-little, one-at-a-time at Maroochy, Cotton Tree and Coolum too on future plan.
Jeff Willis: Good to see all the concrete foundations are almost finished in front of the surf club at Mooloolaba. Can’t wait till they pump the sand back over and cover up the ugly concrete stabilising wall. The concept to use all that sand from the hazardous river mouth sand bars is a win-win. Expanded beachfront sand and a safer, deeper and easier entrance to the river.
Noela Coulter, Mooloolaba: I’m convinced council has no idea when it comes to spending money and trying to make Mooloolaba look like a new ‘Bondi’. Yes, it needed to be tidied up a bit, but did we really need cement steps in front of Mooloolaba Surf Club and all along the front?  And did we really need a cement highway right across the most beautiful headland at Alex with very little grass left on the ground? It’s a pathetic waste of money, shame on council for not consulting the general rate payers who live here all year round.
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb for accountability, credibility and transparency. Preference will be given to letters of 100 words or less.
